An Interview with the RailCat

Rusty's gonna need an ice bath today.

I know all the great Chicago Bears fans in Northwest Indiana enjoyed the thrilling (if not infuriating) win last night, but did you happen to catch the halftime entertainment? If you caught a glimpse over the shoulders of the talking heads on the field, you might have noticed a bunch of big furry hands chucking the pigskin around.

It was the Bears' annual Mascot Football game, where a band of stumbling creatures in suits (not the designer kind) took on a pee-wee team in a pickup football game. There were stars of all kinds - the White Sox giant green blob, the Chicago Wolf(?), and even our friends Jammer (of the Joliet JackHammers) and Bearon (of the Schaumburg Flyers).

But the star, predictably, was our own tough 'Cat Rusty.

The (Rail)Cats Meow had a chance to sit down in person with a slightly hobbled Rusty this morning for a blow-by-blow description of the action. Here is the transcript of that interview:

(Rail)Cats Meow: Rusty, thanks for taking the time to sit down with us.

Rusty the RailCat: [nods head]

RM: Let's get straight to the action, it looked from the early going like the pee-wee team was coming right after you in the running game, and they had a great deal of success.

RtR: [hangs head]

RM: One play in particular, early in the third quarter, you had little Timmy O'Toole one-on-one and he just lowered his shoulder and flattened you on his way to the end zone. What happened there?

RtR: [covers eyes, winces]

RM: Ok, let's go to the other side of the ball. The mascots gave you the start at tailback despite your dubious record in the mascot race (0-309). That had to be a nice confidence boost.

RtR: [flails arms in celebration, thrusts pudgy tummy]

RM: And they even handed you the ball on the first play of the game

RtR: [spontaneously breaks into cha-cha slide, transitions into The Worm]

RM: But on that first play, six-year-old Krissy Thomas caught you from behind, stripped the ball and returned it for a touchdown.

RtR: [collapses dramatically]

RM: At least it seemed like a lot of fun Rusty. How do you plan on spending your day today?

RtR: [falls asleep]

RM: Well thanks for taking the time to talk with us.

RtR: [zzzzzzzzz ...]